Several configurations for centrifugally launched projectile toys have been described in the art. Callaghan (U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,032) and Lawson (U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,911) describe a projectile toy with a cloth-like tail that tapers from the weighted nose to a point at the tip of the tail. The tail is the widest at the weighted end which will be traveling at the greatest rotational velocity when the device is spun prior to launching. This results in excessive air drag which reduces the launching velocity. This tail design also limits the ease with which the toy can be caught by the tail. The ease of catching the tail increases the further the catch is removed from the nose. Yet, the taper shaped tail provides diminishing tail substance to grasp, increasing the catch difficulty. Individuals without excellent reflexes experience frustration as the thin tail section slips out from between their fingers during a catch attempt.
Previously described centrifugally launched projectile toys have used a resilient mass such as a rubber ball as the weight in the nose section. This includes the Callaghan and Lawson toys as well as Clark (U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,447), Clarke (U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,319), Craig II (U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,757), Lerner et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,253), Lindgren (U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,268) and Meyer (U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,472). Lamle (U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,061) describes a single round, resiliently compressible, unitary body mass filled with a gel and/or a liquid. Aninherent characteristic of a resilient mass is that it will bounce upon impact as it returns to its original shape. Therefore when a person attempts to catch a resilient mass it will bounce out of the catcher's hands unless the catcher has sufficient skill and reflexes to retain the mass.
The New Games Book, published in 1976 describes on page 27 a projectile toy that is constructed by placing a rubber ball in the toe of a sock then throwing and catching it by the sock tail. This is similar to the projectile toy described by Lamle that uses the resilient gel mass as the weight in the blind end of a sock-like tube. Although simple in design, this uniformly wide tail configuration creates undesirable drag while the device is spun prior to launching and during free flight. This significantly limits the free flight distance, especially in windy conditions such as at a beach--a common place to use toys such as these.
Lamle describes a hemmed trailing end and Lerner et al. describes a knot in the tail, both of which act as a finger grips. Although either configuration could act as a finger grip, a double thickness of fabric or a knot would still require significant hand strength of the user when throwing this toy by the tail to counteract the centrifugal force generated by the rotating weight.
Particulate filled sacks which act much like a bean bag have been described by Gamertsfelder (U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,280), Lathim et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,066), Matyko (U.S. Pat. No. 3,163,421), Pennisi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,158) Stalberger, Jr. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,994) and Steinmetz (U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,679). Each of these act as an easily catchable non-resilient mass but they are strictly limited in the distance they might be thrown by the arm strength of the thrower and conventional throwing techniques. None of these has ever been proposed to be used as the weighted portion of a centrifugally launched projectile device with a tail section designed to facilitate catching and throwing with an open relaxed hand.